Hong Kong’s anti-corruption watchdog has charged three people for sharing online posts urging a boycott of the upcoming “patriots only” legislative elections and issued warrants for the arrests of two others not in the city.
The two men and one woman were arrested on Friday on suspicion of breaching Hong Kong’s election laws. After seeking advice from the Department of Justice, the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) – which oversees the election legislation – laid charges against the trio on Thursday, according to the ICAC’s statement that morning.
Air-conditioning engineer Wong Kin-kwok, 55; Lam Kin-sik, 66, unemployed; and housewife Bonney Ma, 61, each face one count of engaging in illegal conduct to incite another person not to vote in the Legislative Council elections.
Hong Kong’s Legislative Council elections will take place in December, the second since Beijing overhauled the city’s electoral system to ensure that only those deemed patriotic enough can run. The move reduced democratic representation in the legislature, tightened control of elections and introduced a pro-Beijing vetting panel to select candidates.
Only 20 of the 90 seats in the legislature will be directly elected, with around 4.14 million registered voters in their respective geographical constituencies.
The government, along with major charities and business chambers, are pushing a city-wide campaign to promote voting following record-low turnouts in the 2021 LegCo elections and the 2023 District Council elections, in the wake of Beijing’s electoral overhaul.
Arrest warrants
The watchdog also issued warrants for the arrests of Alan Keung and Tong Wai-hung, who made the initial posts shared by Wong, Lam and Ma. Keung and Tong face the same charges as the trio.
Keung and Tong are not in Hong Kong, according to the ICAC. The warrants were issued on Thursday morning after a magistrate granted the commission’s application.
Keung – who lives in Canada – also has a separate arrest warrant issued by Hong Kong’s national security police. He is wanted over his role in a political group deemed subversive by the authorities, and police are offering offering HK$200,000 for information that could lead to his arrest.
“The ICAC investigation revealed that Keung Ka-wai and Tong Wai-hung had published on their social media pages posts which incited others not to cast any votes in the 2025 LegCo Election,” the Thursday statement read.
“Subsequently, Wong reposted Keung’s post on his social media page, while Lam and Ma posted Tong’s post on their respective social media pages.”
“The ICAC strongly condemns criminals who attempted to interfere with and undermine the current LegCo Election by circulating messages online to incite others not to vote,” the statement said. “The ICAC urges members of the public to strictly adhere to the law and distinguish the truth to avoid being fooled and exploited by lawbreakers.”
The ICAC also added that voting was a “civic responsibility for every elector” and that it would uphold a clean election.
Separately on Tuesday, Hong Kong’s national security authorities arrested an elderly man over allegedly “seditious’” online posts and urging a boycott of the “patriots only” elections.
In a statement published by Beijing’s Office for Safeguarding National Security, authorities said it would “resolutely punish acts of interfering with and undermining elections in accordance with the law.”
“Some anti-China and foreign elements’ evil thoughts live on… both secretly and openly, [they are] still inciting a boycott of the election. [They are also] inciting activities online and offline to create chaos in Hong Kong,” the statement added.
